Another one from Grandpa's collection. Never shot because ammo is like 80 dollars for a box of 20. I always end up buying something else. Cant wait to see how it shoots, looks perfectly safe, functions flawlessly.

Any idea on worth and any info on it? How long were these made? Is it a good caliber? Thanks!

That is a beautiful firearm. It is very probably worth quite a bit....I am not qualified to say but there are a number of them up for auction at Gunbroker.com. $2000+ is a common asking price. What do they actually sell for?
The rifle is a robust action and the .348 Win is the most powerful of the rimmed lever gun cartridges. The Model 71 is the only rifle ever chambered for it.
Produced 1936-1958.
The rifles are often rechambered for very heavy duty wildcats like the .450 and .500 Alaskan.
Pete

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“Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports ... all others are games.” Ernest Hemingway ...
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That one is a high dollar one for sure, but with the economy.right now you would have to be real patient to get $2K for one. However, I do think it is worth every bit of that if not a little more. She is a keeper for sure, your grandpa had great taste in rifles.

Is it a good caliber, oh yeah. As long as you realize its no more than a 150 yard gun but anything you shoot inside that range will stay shot. I am a big fan, well used to be an even bigger fan before old age and Mr Arthur and his brother Itis showed up. Still enjoy the gun but now 4 or 5 rounds in a shooting session is plenty enough and not a box at a time like I used to. It do have a bit of a thump to it.

Save your brass and reload it, it's to nice a gun to just sit on the wall.

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Good intentions will always be pleaded for any assumption of power. The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern will, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.
--Daniel Webster--

This brass is rimmed not center fire? Very interesting. Why is it only good up to about 150 yards?

The brass is rimmed but not rim fire. The .348 is most definitely a Centerfire cartridge. The limitation on its range is a function of the bullets and the shape, flat tipped, that they must have on order to be safe in the magazine of the Model 71. Flat tipped bullets have much poorer ballistics than pointed bullets. Compared on the basis of pure energy, it is the equal of the .30-06.
Pete

__________________
“Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports ... all others are games.” Ernest Hemingway ...
NRA Life Member

Top bullet is a 30-30 for comparison. Tapered body for ease of loading, angle of the shoulder and the long neck are not conducive to the best powder burn. I use a 250 gr SP bullet not exactly aerodynamically designed for long range accuracy.

I shoot 2" groups 1" low at 50 and around 3"-4" groups 1" high at 100 yards. I don't think I could hit anything past 150 with those buckhorn sights unless I was shooting off a sandbag from the bench but I don't shoot that gun off a bench. Tried that once and it was a boo boo. I'm sure the bullet will hurt you a long ways past 150 yards but hitting the target from offhand is my limiting factor.

__________________
Good intentions will always be pleaded for any assumption of power. The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern will, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.
--Daniel Webster--

Years ago while mule deer hunting I asked a freind to look at his Mdl 71 rifle. While talking a mule deer buck came running out of a wooded area into an open area. I took a shot, one dead deer. The Mdl 71 was not seen much in the wide open western states so I never got one. The few that I have looked at were in the $900 to $ 1500 range but that was a few years ago.

The Winchester 71 is something of a contradiction. It is the epitome of the large cartridge lever gun. It was first built in 1937, when the blackpowder cartridges that are the ancestors of the 348 were already long since obsolete.

The pluses are the stock, which was designed by Townsend Whelen, gives it a handling that would be the envy of a fine shotgun. It comes up like lightning and the sights are lined up when the buttplate hits your shoulder.

It also has one of the smoothest actions of any lever ever made. A properly lubed 71 is a joy to work.

I'm not one of the "no lever action should have a scope" fanatics, but no 71 should have one. It's designed for fast work on big animals at short to medium range and there's no good way to scope one, as the mount on this one shows.

Original 71s are definitely collector's items now and a nice deluxe would go for around $2,000. This one would go for $500 or so less because of the scope mounts.

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